Think before you forward
Over the holidays I received an email regarding a missing person named Evan Tremblay. A family member forwarded it to me and in the email chain I counted no less than 67 names of other email addresses this hoax was forwarded to. God knows how many people those 67 people forwarded it to after receiving it.
Most people forward these types of emails on out of kindness and concern – and were the missing person real, sending this information out could prove useful. There would be more eyes watching out for the missing child, more people who recognize their face and could help track the child.
It’s easy to be taken in because most people figure “What sort of jerk sends out a fake missing person poster?”
There are ways to tell if you’re being taken in though:
Does the poster contain specific information about the child such as:
- age
- height
- weight
- date and time of disappearance
- clothing the child was last seen in
- location the child was last seen in
Does the poster give legitimate contact information should you spot the missing child? Has there been anything on the news or in the paper? Has an organization such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children posted anything regarding the child on their site?
When in doubt, use the search function on Snopes – a great website that collects and dispels stupid hoaxes, urban myths and other types of asshattery.
I think the thing that really annoys me most about these hoaxes is that hoaxes like these make people question legitimate emails and information about those who really are missing. It belittles and diminishes the grief and worry of those who still don’t know where a loved one is – and those people have a legitimate claim to the public’s help.
In short – do a little a research first, if it’s legitimate, then by all means spread the information so help can be given to those who need it.
7 comments
am i evil for deleting all forwards without even reading them? i can’t help it. i just don’t want to ‘deposit a check from a guy in kenya and keep 2,000′ or ‘get a gift card from bill gates, or the gap, or disney’, or ‘make a wish and send it to 10 other people’. i’m bad, right?
Snopes is my first go-to site when I get a forward. It might be a little passive aggressive of me, but I always reply to those emails with the link to the snopes page debunking it and a quick note reading “Thought you might like to know you don’t need to be worried about this one: Link. This is a great site to check out if ever you’re in doubt…”
@CWG – if you’re evil then I’m evil too. I often delete these emails without ever opening them. I have family members who send nothing but “make a wish and send it to ten other people” emails. They go directly in the trash.
@suze – I did what you do – I sent a “reply to all” with the Snopes address and let people know it was just a hoax. One gentleman emailed me back to say thank you for letting him know about it.
Please whenever an e-mail is received about a missing child – by all means investigate its validity – but please if its legit – circulate it…….
Its the only chance these missing children have of ever been found – if there photograph is circulated throughout the world – so that people can see their faces.
Its also basically the only means majority of families have to raise awareness to their missing child…….
@Kathy – exactly! It’s too bad though there are so many hoaxes out there working against those who actually need help finding a missing loved one!
If I receive a legitimate e-mail about a cause I can support, I forward it to inform others as well.
If I receive one of those fake e-mails, I reply curtly indicating just how fake it is, include links to back up my position, and make sure I CC everyone the original sender’s list, too. It usually, either a) educates the individual(s) to research e-mails before forwarding and/or b) prevents them sending me such e-mail in the future.
As a mother, I am so disturbed by this kind of “hoax”. I was prepared to go to Church and Pray for this family in hopes thier boy would be found. Teenageers are always up to something, I get that, but what THEY need to get is that they cause complete strangers to lie awake at night worrying about them and thier family. Evan Tremblay won’t know the kind of upset he caused until he, himself, is a father. I sincerely hope he will raise his children with an appreciation of the overall good of humankind.
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